Rio Bravo

RIO BRAVO [1959] [Blu-ray] Arguably Howard Hawks’ Greatest Film! Beautifully Acted, Wonderfully Observed and Scripted with Enormous Wit and Generosity!On one side is an army of gunmen dead-set on springing a murderous cohort from jail. On the other are Sheriff John T. Chance [John Wayne] and two deputies: a recovering drunkard and a crippled codger. Also in their ragtag ranks are a trigger-happy youth and a woman with a past and her eye on Sheriff John T. Chance. Director Howard Hawks lifted the Western to new heights with ‘Red River.’ Capturing the legendary West with a stellar cast in peak form, he does it again here.Cast: John Wayne, Dean Martin, Rick Nelson, Angie Dickinson, Walter Brennan, Ward Bond, John Russell, Pedro Gonzalez-Gonzalez, Estelita Rodriguez, Claude Akins and Malcolm AtterburyDirector: Howard HawksProducer: Howard HawksScreenplay: Jules Furthman and Leigh Brackett. Based on the novel "Rio Bravo" by B. H. McCampbellComposer: Dimitri TiomkinCinematography: Russell HarlanVideo Resolution: 1080pAspect Ratio: 1.85:1Audio: English: 1.0 DTS-HD Master Audio Mono, English: 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo, French: 1.0 Dolby Digital Mono, German: 1.0 Dolby Digital Mono, Italian: 1.0 Dolby Digital Mono and Spanish [Castilian]: 1.0 Dolby Digital MonoSubtitles: English SDH, French, German, Italian, Spanish [Castilian], Dutch, Korean, Spanish [Latin], Portuguese, Danish, Finish, Norwegian and SwedishRunning Time: 141 minutesRegion: Region A/1Number of discs: 1Studio: Warner Home VideoAndrew’s Blu-ray Review: In traditional Western storytelling, lone sheriffs have faced off against rowdy outlaws and emerged victorious countless times, but never with as much exhilarating craftsmanship, narrative and stylistic economy, or sheer escapist delight as in Howard Hawks' Rio Bravo. The picture is a celebration of several cinematic traditions at once. At the forefront resides a prescribed Western yarn in Hollywood terms, a familiar set-up about a singular lawman taming the Old West, complete with shootouts, treacherous villains, and even twangy songs. Going further, the exceptional treatment represents a culmination of both Howard Hawks themes and techniques, as well as the indomitable screen presence of John Wayne's heroic, yet understatedly complex stature. At the same time, Howard Hawks and John Wayne provide an antidote to the traditional Western archetype by creating an impossible, exceptionally tense situation wherein the lone hero must reluctantly accept help from others, a support system in the form of a mismatched posse, to overcome an impossibly grim opposition. From start to finish, rich, intricate characters populate a fast-paced and flawlessly constructed motion picture, perhaps the most enjoyable and satisfyingly of its genre.‘Rio Bravo’ [1959] is a Western directed by Howard Hawks and starring John Wayne, Dean Martin and Ricky Nelson. Howard Hawks was the king of banter and his films crackle with it and ‘Rio Bravo’ is the best of them all. It's nominally a western, but it's really about a group of friends who call each other names, put each other down, and generally delight in their relationships. They all have nicknames. John Wayne's risk-taking Sheriff is called Sheriff John T. Chance. Then there's his lame pal Stumpy [Walter Brennan] and drunken deputy Dude [Dean Martin], also known as Borachón (Spanish for "drunk").They get holed up in a confrontation with an evil rancher, who has endless heavies at his command. "A lame-legged old man and a drunk – that's all you got?" someone asks Wayne. "That's what I got," he corrects them laconically. In Howard Hawks’s world, all a man needs is his gang of mates, however dysfunctional they may be.Fortunately, the gang is rounded out by a sparky girl named Feathers [Angie Dickinson] and sharp youngster Colorado [Ricky Nelson], who conspires to outwit the baddies with a flowerpot. Angie Dickinson also runs romantic rings around John Wayne, making this icon of Hollywood machismo look like a bumbling fool. That was the kind of fun Howard Hawks loved to have with his stars; he made Cary Grant wear drag for most of ‘I Was a Male War Bride.’Howard Hawks said he liked "three-cushion dialogue," in which no one says what they mean. ‘Rio Bravo’ is full of it, yet some of its most eloquent moments are silent. Dean Martin's recovery from alcoholism is shown not through speeches but through his struggles to roll a cigarette; and we know John Wayne loves him because he's always ready to give him his own. That's the kind of detail that makes this film. It's warm, human and absolutely essential, even 45 years on.The only thing Dean Martin really had a problem with was a scene in which he had to cry. The idea of pretending to cry totally unnerved him but he eventually got it right. He also got along great with the cast and crew, even if his joke telling sometimes held up production or he was hung over for most of the shoot. Dean Martin and John Wayne also played mischievous older brothers to Ricky Nelson on the set, presenting him with a 300-pound sack of steer manure for his eighteenth birthday and then tossing him into the centre of it.Over the course of ‘Rio Bravo’ we are treated to an entertainment masterclass, a high watermark of Hollywood cinema in its heyday. I may not go as far as Quentin Tarantino, who declared that he would show the film to any new girlfriend and end the relationship if she did not declare her undying love for Howard Hawks’ classic, but it is the film I return to again and again, to revisit old friends and remind myself what form optimism takes in a work of art.‘Rio Bravo’ was filmed in Old Tucson Studios, the same Arizona movie set where ‘Gunfight at the O.K. Corral’ [1957] was filmed. Cinematographer Russell Harlan modelled the look of the film on the frontier paintings of Charles M. Russell. Filming outdoors was often a chore due to the 120-degree heat and an invasion of grasshoppers that fried on the hot lights and littered the sets.Blu-ray Video Quality – ‘Rio Bravo’ appears in a respectable aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. The film comes with a pretty average 1080p transfer. I must admit that the image looked worse than I had come to expect based on current standards. Grain could be a little bit heavy, and I noticed a mix of specks and marks through the film. Sharpness also demonstrated some issues. Definition usually seemed fine, but the shots could turn somewhat soft at times. The colour rendition was fine. Blacks were appropriately dark and dense, while shadows showed nice definition. But despite this, the transfer was acceptable and I enjoyed it immensely.Blu-ray Video Quality – 1.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural audio of ‘Rio Bravo’ appeared fine for a more than a 50-year-old film. Speech could be a little thin at times, but the lines showed reasonable warmth and never suffered from any other form of defects. Music lacked great dimensionality as well, but the score showed acceptable clarity and definition. Effects came along the same lines, as they were clean and without distortion but they failed to present much range. Some light background noise cropped up at times, but this was a competent track for again the age of the film.Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:Audio Commentary: Commentary by Richard Schickel and John Carpenter: Here we first get introduced to the Howard hawks film by Richard Schickel, who greatly admired the Western ‘Rio Bravo’ and mentions that prior to 1959, Howard Hawks had been absent from America, because he had been living in Europe for about 4 years and also mentions that when Howard Hawks returned to America, he found a great deal of change and the dominance of Television, compared to the Cinema. Now enters John Carpenter, who introduces himself to us viewers and also informs us that ‘Rio Bravo’ is one of his all-time favourite films and that Howard Hawks is also of his all-time favourite directors. They both comment the moment Dean Martin walks into the bar at the start of the film and it is basically a homage to the silent film genre and presentation that Howard Hawks was a great admirer of the silent cinema. They also mention that Howard Hawks was a big fan of the 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Both of the commentators mention that Dean Martin was curious choice for the film, but at the time of the film is when he parted company with Jerry Lewis, because he wanted to branch out on his own career. They talk about the actor Walter Brennan and what a great character actor he is and has appeared in loads of Cowboy Films, but sadly had a tragic accident and lost all of his teeth and had two moulds done of his teeth, but had an outlook that was either teeth in or teeth out, where ever he was, especially when being respectable and in ‘Rio Bravo’ he asked Howard Hawks whether it was teeth in or out and Howard Hawks said he wanted the old toothless cranky fussy old character, so it was teeth out. We also get to hear how the famous Howard Hawks had a clever use of overlapping dialogue, which he enjoyed immensely. Another interesting fact we hear about is that Howard Hawks loved the location of Old Tucson Studios and made two more subsequent movies there, with the help of Leigh Brackett, who was his favourite screenwriter, who had written enough screenplay left over to make another Cowboy movie, that sadly was less successful. The first time Leigh Brackett met Howard Hawks, Howard was totally shocked to find out Leigh was a female. Her claim to fame was with her last screenplay that was for George Lucas and ‘The Empire Strike Back’ film and was release posumately around the time Leigh Brackett passed away at the age of 65 years of age in 1980. We find in part the reason Ricky nelson got the part in the film, is because his father Ozzie Nelson was a good friend of Howard Hawks, who was aware of Ricky Nelson being a teeny bopper singing artist. The film ‘Rio Bravo’ by all account was a very extremely amicable shoot, where everyone got along very nicely, despite the age factor and experience of some of the actors and shows why the film turned out a great success. Sometimes Howard Hawks would let the actors adlib their lines on set, often at times they would come in the morning and rehearse the scene and they would do a thing called “going to the table,” where Howard Hawks would tap a big pad of paper and actors would sit around the table and learning their lines and adding nuisances, then Howard Hawks would write everything down and get it typed up over lunch and then they would shoot the scene in the afternoon and Howard hawks felt this was a very humane way of working. As we get near to the end of the climatic finish, which both commentators say is truly glorious, funny and exciting, especially as the main group of actors come together to be reunited and doing what Howard Hawks calls “fun,” and Howard hawks would always choreography these types of ending of his films, especially where the actors are specifically positioned, to the point of great simplicity, which was always overlooked by people, because his visuals do not call attention to themselves. We are told people reported that John Wayne was very uncomfortable doing the love scenes with Angie Dickinson. Richard Schickel and John Carpenter comment that ‘Rio Bravo’ is a movie that is filled with fun, it is filled with humour and characters that are fun and is truly old fashioned filmmaking and it borrows from the 1930s and 1940s, but in colour in the 1950s. It has action; in fact it has got it all, and one of the greatest Western of all time. Again we get more comments that there is something about this film, in the sense it reflects what was best about Hollywood, especially when it makes it a Hollywood movie and was extremely popular when it was released and I is still very popular today. John Carpenter says at the end, “I hope you have enjoyed viewing this film like we have and see you at the movies.” Well I second that as this audio commentary has been really enjoyable experience, especially hearing the comments in this audio commentary from Richard Schickel and John Carpenter and I can tell you it is well worth listen to two people who know about this film and Western genre, who gave the impression they had a blast doing the audio commentary and so did I.Special Feature Documentary: Commemoration: Howard Hawks ‘Rio Bravo’ [2007] [1080p] [1.85:1] 33:22] We find out from this Special Feature Documentary that we find out that this is considered Howard Hawks' "most personal film" and also his "most influential." This brief look at the film's development more than adequately covers why it is of all the great Westerns, this one "has everything." What is interesting to me is that before making this ‘Rio Bravo’ Howard Hawks looked at television and saw that the appeal of TV was the characters and the actors, and not the plot. And this is absolutely true, although television has become more long-form, it used to be a very character-driven with 30 minutes episodes each week. I also like how the film was a response to ‘High Noon,’ which Howard Hawks felt violated an ethical principle by having non-gunfighters be recruited to defend the town. Contributors to this very nice documentary are as follows: Peter Bogdanovich [Director]; Walter Hill [Director]; John Carpenter [Director]; Jonathan Kuntz and Stephen Mamber [UCLA Department and of Film and Television]; Angie Dickinson [Actress/Feathers]; James D’Arc [Curator of Howard hawks Papers at Brigham Young University in Utah].Special Feature Documentary: Old Tucson: Where the Legends Walked [2007] [1080p] [1.85:1] [8:34] With his special documentary we get a personal look at the backstage tour of the Old Tucson Studios in Arizona where the film was shot. This mocked-up frontier town, which was also the setting for other classic westerns like ‘Winchester '73’ and ‘The Gunfight At The OK Corral,’ and today serves as an Old West theme park. Brimming with nostalgia and graced with that rare Howard Hawks interview, this great for you cinephiles out there. Contributors to this very nice documentary are as follows: Jonathan Kuntz [UCLA Department and of Film and Television]; Dan Schneider [Tour Guide for Old Tucson Studios]; Rob Shelton [Former owner of Old Tucson Studios] and Mark Kadow [Entertainment Manger of Old Tucson Studios].Theatrical Trailer [1959] [480i] [4:3] 2:45] Even though it is the original trailer, it looks like it was specially made to be broadcast on American Television at the time of the release.Finally, personally I am not a massive fan of Westerns most of the time, but there are certain classic Westerns I like very much, and one of them of course is 'Rio Bravo' and always have an enjoyable ride viewing it, and one that holds up very well almost fifty years on. ‘Rio Bravo’ is a very good film, though it’s stark black-and-white view of the world is slightly dated now. It is the ultimate legitimate classic of its genre, particularly notable for what is considered John Wayne's most tender performance and a strong supporting cast including Dean Martin and a very young Ricky Nelson. John Wayne gives a strong performance as usual, but it is director Howard Hawks that really shines, putting together an exciting film filled with humour that never drags during its 2 hours and 21 minute run time. Warner Home Video has put together a fine retrospective Blu-ray release for this Howard Hawks favourite, with an impressive transfer and excellent supplementary material. This 2015 restoration may not be quite up to the calibre of 'The Searchers,' but it is certainly a more-than-respectable effort befitting a legend of John Wayne's stature. All in all I am so glad it is now in my Blu-ray Collection. Highly Recommended!Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film FanLe Cinema ParadisoWARE, United Kingdom

On of the most admired and much-loved westerns of all time, Howard Hawks' 1959 tale of sheriff John T Chance, the woman that loves him and his three wildly different deputies gives a lot a pleasurable dialog, great characters we care about, some iconic gun shootouts, a sweet and feisty cat and mouse love story and a tremendous grab bag of other archetypal genre tropes. This was Hawks' "anti-High Noon". Where that earlier classic movie challenged concepts of loyalty, courage and self-doubt against the feckless citizenry (a very clear pushback to the McCarthy era blacklists) Hawks' Chance character has no problem facing down the baddies alone if he has to and there is NO moral ambiguity here as the highly professional and competent good guys (and woman) battle the clearly evil bad guys. While many critics and fans rightfully clamor about Wayne's fantastic turn as Chance or Angie Dickinson's excellent portrayal as Feathers, one of Hawk's typically strong yet very feminine woman characters, for this fan, it's Dean Martin's character arch of Dude the alcoholic deputy that pretty much steals the show. It's one of the finest if not THE finest thing Martin ever did in cinema. We root for his character all through the movie with each staggering, struggling step back toward sobriety, self-respect and redemption.This Warner Bros. 4k UHD release is a real revelation. While the original film source material still struggles with off and on-again softness, sometimes with in seconds back and forth in the same scene, the beautiful detail, color and textures coming pouring through most of the time. There is a steady, very fine film grain present so that tiny details like pores, stubble and sweat are regularly seen. Color is extremely rich and natural without any blooming. You'll see all those blue eyes shining for sure. The HDR contributes to fantastic specular flashes like glints off of metal hat bands, badges and those nighttime lamps glowing forth on the street. This all contributes to an extremely 3D experience. You're "in" the picture not outside the screen watching it. The DTS HD MA 2 channel mono audio is as clear as a bell with solid fidelity and easy to hear dialog. No distortion or tinniness. Sadly, there is only a very good commentary available for special features. No behind the scenes or documentaries are included. Still, this is a must buy for all western fans or any cinephile that cares and appreciates the highest level of craft and entertainment in cinema.

I have this movie in dvd, blu-ray and now 4K. Great cast (John Wayne, Dean Martin, Angie Dickinson, Ricky Nelson, Walter Brennan). this 4K with HDR is better than the blu-ray version (whether you have your 4K TV set for on various picture settings (vivid, standard, cinema, filmmaker mode). If you like vivid mode, the blu-ray is overpowering (too bright) but with this 4K HDR it isn't. Should you upgrade to this 4K version? If you like westerns and this one in particular is among your favorite, I think this one if worth upgrading if you can get it at a decent price. Got it on sale during Prime Day along with a few other 4K movies.

Love the film

Película de Colleccion y además se ve de maravilla en 4K, la recomiendo ampliamente.

Gute Bild- und Tonqualität! Ein Muss für Westernfans der guten alten Filme!

Meglio conosciuto in Italia come "Un Dollaro d'Onore", per non creare confusione con l'omonimo film di Ford (a sua volta, in origine, "Rio Grande"), "Rio Bravo"di Hawks è un western archetipo di tutto riposo, completo delle consuete e familiari "dramatis personae" e di tutti i rassicuranti topoi del genere: lo sceriffo tutto d'un pezzo, la sciantosa con tutte le aigrettes al posto giusto (qui una sensualissima Angie Dickinson), il vecchietto querulo e ridanciano che fa le veci del coro greco (il solito Brennan), il "greenhorn" che si rivelerà in realtà capace di imprese insospettabili e già più che smaliziato per la sua età, l'ubriacone conradiano che dal fondo dell'abiezione e passando d'umiliazione in umiliazione saprà risollevarsi a dignità umana ("Un uomo si può uccidere, ma non si può vincere", sentenziava Hemingway, che di coraggio se ne intendeva)...Vengono in mente, a noi che fummo bambini anni or sono, le jacovittesche caricature del genere western americano : il tappetto Charlie Maciste che stende al tappeto Cocco Bill, i cattivissimi Kuknass Brothers, l'antipatico dalla faccia da schiaffi che spara nel saloon a chi è senza pistola, i bari di professione, il cinese che fa affari con le casse da morto...Non manca neppure, come nel western rivale per eccellenza, "High Noon", la canzone accattivante: quello stesso " Degüello" che anni dopo sarà ripresa da Morricone per un film di Sergio Leone, il secondo della cosiddetta Trilogia del Dollaro.Insomma: una summa dei temi che hanno reso celebre e popolare il genere western e contribuito alla creazione di un'epica nazionale, da quello del coraggio e del riscatto a quello delle amicizie virili, inaugurato in letteratura da Huckleberry Finn. E via sparacchiando.

Super film mais beaucoup d'entre vous le savent déjà.Rapport qualité prix rien a dire je recommande

Great movie and great service